India’s indigenous Light Combat Aircraft – ‘Tejas’
Indian made Light Combat Aircraft – “Tejas” to join the Air Force
Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) for the India’s state-of-the-art Fourth Generation Light Combat Aircraft, “Tejas” was accorded on 10 January 2010. The Indian Defence Minister Shri AK Antony handed over a formal "Release to Service Certificate" of the Tejas aircraft to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, at a function in Bangalore thereby clearing the way for its induction into the Indian Air Force (IAF) later this year. The "Release to Service certificate" was prepared by Center for Military Airworthiness & Certification which has thoroughly scrutinized the entire design, development, equipment testing and the results of flight testing of all the systems of Tejas over the last several months.
This occasion is a very significant milestone in the design and development of Tejas in particular and military aviation in the country as a whole. This achievement has been a culmination of efforts of the Tejas team comprising of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), various laboratories and centers of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the IAF, aeronautical Qualification and Certification agencies, various Public Sector Units, Private Industries and Academic Institutions.
The flight test stage of the Tejas was started in January 2001 and it has completed about 1,500 hours of flight tests using various variants, along with the first two-seater trainer version. The aircraft is capable of carrying assorted weapons and drop tanks upto an external payload capacity of 4 tons.
